News Ticker: Robert Plant, Digital Hip-Hop, Gnarls Barkley, Fall Out Boy

According to the U.K.’s Sunday Mirror, Robert Plant turned down £100 million, or around $200 million, to participate in a full Led Zeppelin reunion tour. A “band source” reportedly said that despite Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones’ eagerness to take their reunion on the road, Plant “wanted to leave last year’s concert as their legacy.” Plant is scheduled to embark on a joint tour with Alison Krauss in April. Indie labels Amalgam Digital and Def Jux are looking to stoke hip-hop digital sales (which lag far behind other genres) by expanding their online stores and including extras like bonus tracks, exclusive albums and a capella versions. “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul?” — the next single from Gnarls Barkley’s forthcoming The Odd Couple — has been leaked onto the Internet courtesy of the Roots’ ?uestlove, who posted the song (and his lip-synching of it) on his YouTube page. Fall Out Boy will release **** Live in Phoenix on April 1st. The CD/DVD set will feature a twenty-two-song live performance from last year’s Honda Civic Tour, their cover of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” (featuring John Mayer on guitar), the band’s eight videos and behind-the-scenes footage and outtakes. [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-03-03 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Tom Waits Spins Yarns, Sings About Jesus at Tour Opener in Phoenix

“The world is not my home,” Tom Waits sang on the opening night of his highly anticipated U.S. tour. “I’m just passing through.” One place Waits has always made his own is the stage, so no surprise that last night’s looked like a junkyard at midnight: nebulously lit and hung in mist. Flanked by a menacing installation of horn speakers crackling out old-time phonograph music and surrounded by a graveyard of cigar-box banjoes, bullhorns and ramshackle guitars, Waits’ sextet took the stage at Phoenix’s Orpheum Theatre around 8:30 and powered into a lurching medley of “Lucinda” and “Aint Goin Down to the Well.” Set against his own towering silhouette, Waits was a drawn sketch of twisted limbs: heaving and panting like a stalled locomotive. Clutching the microphone with both hands as if it were the only thing keeping him up, he stomped his workman’s boots so hard the floorboards coughed up thick clouds of dust into the spotlight around his legs. The 25 songs the band played were fever dreams from an old, weird America whose greatest trick has been convincing the world it’s been eradicated by modern life: an underworld of “Rain Dogs,” “Eyeball Kids” and “Black Market Babies”; of “Trampled Roses” and “Christmas Cards from Hookers in Minneapolis.” “Jesus Gonna Be Here” Waits coughed, but “God’s Away on Business.” Waits’ subjects are down and out American grotesques, and he spent the better part of his performance playing the demented preacher to that set: slightly oversized suit and bowler hat, arms spread out to their length, palms down, wide hands quavering or waggling an index finger. “Does life seem nasty, brutish and short?” he sang. “Come on up to the house.” Sonically, Waits still sings like the devil he’s slated to play in the new Terry Gilliam flick, and h

Published: 2008-06-18 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Live Shows

Tour Tracker: Allman Brothers Band, Joan Jett and the Dodos

Joan Jett flies out on a summer tour, a healthy Allman Brothers Band plot August concerts and the Dodos stave off extinction by staying mobile. The complete itineraries are after the jump. Joan Jett May 2 - Memphis, TN @ Beale Street Music Festival May 21 - Santa Fe, NM @ Camel Rock Casino June 7 - Fairfax, VA @ Celebrate Fairfax June 21 - Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion June 22 - Dallas, TX @ Superpages.com Center June 25 - Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre June 27 - Alpine, CA @ Viejas Casino June 28 - El Paso, TX @ El Paso Downtown Street Festival June 29 - Atlanta, GA @ Chastain Park Amphitheatre July 2 - San Rafael, CA 2 Marin County Fair July 3 - Miami, FL @ Miccosukee Resort July 9 - Calgary, ALB @ Fort Calgary July 12 - Beloit, WI @ Beloit Riverfest July 19 - Fond Du Lac, WI @ Fond Du Lac County Fair July 24 - London, ONT @ Rock The Park July 25 - Oswego, NY @ Harborfest July 26 - Buffalo, NY @ Gateway Park August 16 - Louisville, KY 2 Kentucky State Fair August 22 - Niagara Falls, NY @ Seneca Niagara Casino August 23 - Syracuse, NY @ New York State Fair August 28 - Milwaukee, WI @ Miller Park August 30 - Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest Harley Davidson 105th Anniversary September 6 - Grand Junction, CO @ Festival Grounds September 22 - Bakersfield, CA Kern @ County Fair Allman Brothers Band August 12 - Bethel, NY @ Bethel Woods Center For The Arts August 13 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon At Jones Beach Theater August 15 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center August 16 - Mansfield, MA @ Tweeter Center For The Perf. Arts August 19 - Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center August 20 - Hartford, CT @ New England Dodge Music Center August 22 - Canandaigua, NY @ Constellation Brands - Sands PAC August 23 - Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center August 30 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre The Dodos April 27 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall June 19 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent June 24 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge June 25 - S

Published: 2008-04-29 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, On Tour

Megadeth, In Flames, High On Fire Ground and Pound at Gigantour in New York

The third installment of Gigantour, Dave Mustaine’s traveling metal circus, had its first of two sold-out shows at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom last night. Never one to blow an entrance, Mustaine opened Megadeth’s set standing alone onstage, ripping into “Sleepwalker,” the first cut from last year’s United Abominations. From then on, the order of business was to thrash as hard as possible for ninety minutes, with items on the agenda including a blistering “Take No Prisoners” and a sneer-heavy “Symphony of Destruction.” Mustaine’s ginger mop doesn’t bob as much as it used to, but his chops were still there — impressive for a guy who had to essentially re-learn his instrument five years ago after suffering nerve damage. The big revelation of the night was newly added lead guitarist Chris Broderick, who made trading shred-heavy lines with Mustaine on “Hangar 18″ seem like child’s play. And speaking of children, the 1984 mullets several attendees forced upon their spawn likely qualify as a form of child abuse. Bouncing back from a pair of albums that were light on memorable moments, Sweden’s In Flames performed a handful of vicious songs from their latest, A Sense of Purpose. Diehard fans gnashed their teeth at the dearth of pre-2000 material, but new songs “The Mirror’s Truth” and “Disconnected” featured enough bite to grab newer ears and likely won back a few of the old ones. Most attendees in the massive line missed an impressive — if unpleasantly early — set from Oakland’s High on Fire, who conjure up as much blood and thunder as Mastodon and do it with only three guys. Phoenix-based youthful Internet buzz band (7 million MySpace views!) Job for a Cowboy followed by showing off solid technical proficiency and was the night’s most straightforwardly brutal act, suggesting the band could become pretty noteworth

Published: 2008-04-23 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Live Shows

Tour Tracker: Danity Kane/Day26, Blondie and !!!

Diddy’s darlings Danity Kane and Day26 play nice for the eleven-date Making The Band 4 Tour, Blondie celebrate thirty years of Parallel Lines and !!! teach a nation how to properly say their band name. The full tour dates are after the jump. Danity Kane/Day26 May 24 - Orlando, FL @ Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre May 25 - Miami, FL @ The Fillmore Miami Beach May 29 - New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom May 30 - Baltimore, MD @ Pier Six Concert Pavilion May 31 - Detroit, MI @ Fillmore June 1 - Chicago, IL @ Chicago Auditorium June 5 - Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre June 6 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Pearl Concert Theater June 7 - Alpine, CA @ Viejas Casino June 9-10 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Blondie June 5 - Baltimore, MD @ Ram’s Head Live June 6 - Englewood, NJ @ Bergen Performing Arts Center June 8 - Jackson, NJ @ Six Flags Great Adventure June 10 - Kingston, NY @ Broadway Theatre June 12, 13 - Orillia, Ontario @ Casino Rama June 14 - Niagara Falls, NY @ Seneca Events Center June 17 - Red Bank, NJ @ Count Basie Theatre June 18 - Farmingville, NY @ Brookhaven June 20 - Hyannis, MA @ Cape Cod Melody Tent June 21 - Cohasset, MA @ South Shore Music Circus June 22 - New York, NY @ Nokia Theatre June 24 - Louisville, KY @ Kentucky Center June 26 - Chester, WV @ Mountaineer Racetrack June 27 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Park Zoo June 28 - Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest !!! June 13 - Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo July 17 - Boston, MA @ The Middle East July 18 - Mariaville, NY @ Camp Bisco Festival July 19 - Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Festival July 20 - Detroit, MI @ Pike Room July 21 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop July 22 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theater July 25 – Nova Scotia @ Evolve Festival July 27 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg August 29 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge August 30 - Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot Festival August 31 - Vancouver, BC @ TBA [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-04-16 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, On Tour

Rock Bloggin’: God Speaks to Billy Corgan, Tells Him to Post Ramblings on Public Forum

Billy Corgan loves this country. He doesn’t just love this country, he LOVES this country!! (The exclamation points his, not ours). In an enormous blog (or as BC calls it “Blob”) post on the Smashing Pumpkins Web site, Corgan waxes poetic about everything from Uncle Sam living in a timeshare in Trinidad to Epcot Center in Orlando to why his band doesn’t play that many Siamese Dream songs in concert. In a mere 1,156 words, Corgan manages to say everything and nothing at the same time in a bizarro stream-of-consciousness blur that would rival James Joyce’s Ulysses were it a tad more, you know, literary. Making the labyrinthine post more confusing is the strange visual aids Corgan intersperses throughout the text. A picture of the Statue of Liberty in a snow globe (a nod to Zeitgeist’s cover?), a twenty-four minute YouTube video about Disneyland, and a photo of the puck commemoratively being dropped before an empty Colorado Avalanche/Phoenix Coyotes hockey game. Corgan does make momentary sense when he confronts a fan’s question regarding the lack of Siamese Dream songs on the setlist, to which Corgan replies: “’this is not a reunion tour’ … if one was to listen to Siamese Dream from a particular perspective, you might hear me at age 25 or so struggling with how to escape my past! How ironic that that same struggle should now become part of my current struggle for autonomy … the current SP is designed to live on happily, strongly, proudly, and boldly…there is no other way that I can see to water the flowers properly … we choose life, and the love of the moment for the song we choose to sing …” Which is roughly Corgan-speak for: we’re not playing Siamese songs because we’re on tour promoting Zeitgeist. You had ample time to purchase Siamese, now go buy our new one. But wait, it gets stranger. Corgan proudly tells those still reading that “God talks to me,” putting himself in the same weight class as Jesus, evangelists and all those haggard guys we see on th

Published: 2007-10-16 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Metric Confirm Fall Tour, Plans to Sculpt “Triumphant Studio Masterpiece”

Savvy new-wave-noise quartet Metric will take a break from prepping to record a “triumphant studio masterpiece” — their fourth album — just long enough to squeeze in a tour in September and October, their first U.S. jaunt since spring of 2006. The band will hit a studio co-owned by the band’s guitarist Jimmy Shaw and former Death From Above 1979 rocker Sebastien Grainger in November to churn out their first new set of tracks since 2005’s Live it Out (the band’s first LP, Grow Up and Blow Away was just re-released, and frontwoman Emily Haines has released a solo album in the interim, as will Bang Lime, a group comprised of rhythm-section players Joules Scott-Key and Josh Winstead, in August). Read on to grab the tour dates, and check out Live it Out’s dreamy “Ending Start” right here. 9/19 - Philadelphia, PA, The Trocadero 9/20 - Washington, DC, The 930 Club 9/21 - New York, NY, Webster Hall 9/22 - Buffalo, NY, Town Ballroom 9/24 - Detroit, MI, St Andrews Hall 9/25 - Chicago, IL, The Metro 9/26 - Minneapolis, MN: First Avenue 9/28 - Denver, CO, Bluebird Theatre 10/1 - Phoenix, AZ, Martini Ranch 10/2 - Pomona, CA, Glass House 10/3 - San Diego, CA, House of Blues 10/5 - Los Angeles, CA, Henry Fonda Theater 10/6 - San Francisco, CA, Download Festival 10/8 - Portland, OR, Cafe Wonder 10/9 - Seattle, WA, The ShowboxPhoto: Edwin Tse

Published: 2007-07-31 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Linkin Park Helps Rebuild Homes Affected By Hurricane Katrina

NEW ORLEANS - FEBRUARY 27: Chester Bennington (L) and Dave "Phoenix" Farrell (R) of the band Linkin Park carry lumber to build frames as they work with Music for Relief and Habitat for Humanity while rebuilding homes affected by Hurricane Katrina on February 27, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana.(Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Published: 2008-02-27 Provider: ViewImages Keywords: USA, Chester, New Orleans, Bennington County, Band, Relief, LA, Carrying, Building, Working, Timber, Square Shape, Music, Hurricane Katrina, Linkin Park, Arts Culture and Entertainment, Home, Habitat for Humanity, Phoenix, Chester Bennington, Dave Farrell,Chester Bennington